Potato-bug catcher.



' PATENTED 001 e, 1903-.

.W. E. souirinwoon. POTATO BUG GATCHER.

APPLICATION FILED APB..1, 1.903;

L E D 0 H 0 N UNITED STATES iatente'd October 6, 1903.

' PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. SOUTHWOOD, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAhI.

POTATO-BUG CATCH ER.

srEoIrIoA'rIou forming part of Letters Patent o. 740,481, dated October6, 190's.

Application filed April 1, 1903. Serial No. 150,641. (lilo model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. SOUTH WOOD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Jackson, in the county of Jackson and State ofMichigan, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Potato-BugCatchers, of which the following is a specification. My inventionrelates to potato-bug catchers; and it consists in the peculiar andadvantageous construction hereinafter described, and particularlypointed out in the claims appended.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of myimproved potatobug catcher, the same being shown as partly open; andFig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the catcher.

Similar letters designate corresponding parts in both views of thedrawings, referring to which- I A is the body, and B the beater, of myimproved catcher. The body A in the preferred embodiment of my inventioncomprises end walls a, rounded at their lower ends, as indicated by b,and tapered or gradually reduced in width to their upper ends, areceptacle 0, of tin, connected to the lower round ends'b of the walls aand extending a slight. distance up the back of the body, cross-bars cl(1, of wood, connected to the back edges of the walls a, a piece e, ofcanvas or other textile material, connected to the receptacle 0, walls aand cross-bars d (1, closing the back side of the body, and a cross-rodf, of wood, connecting the upper ends of the walls a and ex- .tendingbeyond the same, as indicated by g.

The heater B is by preference made up of a rectangular frame h, of wood,having a cross-bar 'i at an intermediate point of its length, a piece ofwire-gauze j, connected to the side bars, lower cross-bar, andintermediate cross-bar of the frame h, and a piece of canvas or othertextile material it, connected to the side bars, upper cross-bar, andintermediate cross-bar of said frame. The side bars of the beater-frameextend beyond the upper cross-bar thereof and are pivotally mounted onthe extended portions g ofthe rod f.

O is a strap, of leather or other material, connected to the rod f ofbodyA and designed to be placed over the shoulder ofthe user of thecatcher; D, a handle connected to the crossbar 'i of the beater B, and EE, butters, preferably rubber blocks, connected to the outer sides ofthe walls a of the body and having for their purpose to receive theimpact of and stop the beater when the same is swung against the frontside of the body.

In practice the user of my potatobug catcher places the strap'O over hisshoulder and grasps the handle D with his right hand.

He then walks along a row of potato-plants and sweeps the beater overeach plant, so as to remove the bugs from the plant and throw themagainst the canvas back e of the body, from whence they will drop intothe receptacle cl When the heater is swung against the forward side ofthe body for the purpose stated, it will be observed that it willentirely close said side of the body, and thereby prevent any of thebugs removed from the plants from dropping to the ground.

It will-be appreciated from the foregoing that while my improved catcheris highly efficient in removing bugs from potato-plants it is light inweight, is adapted to be operated with but a minimum amount of efiort,and is not liable to break or otherwise injure the plants on which it isused.

I have entered into a detailed description of the construction andrelative arrangement of the parts embraced in the present and preferredembodiment of my invention in order to impart a full, clear, and exactunderstanding of the same. I do not desire, however, to be understood asconfining myself to such specific construction and arrangement of parts,as such changes or modifications may be made in practice as fairly fallwithin the scope of my invention as claimed.

Having described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

1. In a potato-b ug catcher, the combination of a body having end walls,and a back of textile material, and also having a sheetmetal receptacleat its lower end, a strap connected to the upper end of the body andadapted to be placed over the shoulder, and a beater comprising a framepivoted to the upper end of the body, wire-gauze connected to the frame,and a handle also connected to the frame; said beater being adapted whenswung against the body to entirely close the front thereof.

2. In a potato-bug catcher, the combination with a body havingend'walls, of wood, and a back of textile material, and also having asheet-metal receptacle at its lower end, a rod at its upper end,extended beyond its end walls, and buffers on the outer sides of saidend walls; of a beater comprising a rectanro gular frame, pivoted on theextended portions of the rod of the body, wire-gauze connected to theframe, and a handle also'conneeted to said frame.

7 In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM E. SOUTHWOOD. Witnesses:

E. 0. BADGLEY, R. BANNASOH.

